ADF team was put on standby to help Victorian hotel quarantine
In an explosive twist to Victoria’s hotel quarantine scandal, it can be revealed a team of 100 Defence Force personnel was put on standby to support the scheme on the same day it was announced.
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A team of 100 troops was put on standby to help with monitoring and compliance in Victoria’s quarantine hotels on the day the coronavirus response was locked in.
But the Herald Sun can reveal a Victoria Police plan for the problem-plagued program specifically excluded the use of Defence Force personnel, despite offers of support.
Private security guards were instead chosen to staff the hotels at a crucial March 27 meeting chaired by Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp and attended by senior Victorian bureaucrats.
The revelations place renewed pressure on Daniel Andrews after he insisted that Defence Force personnel were not offered to help with the hotel quarantine program.
Health protocol breaches by some guards have since sparked Victoria’s deadly second wave of infections.
The Premier seized on a statement from Mr Crisp which said the ADF did not “offer assistance” for hotel quarantine when it was set up, declaring that “provides the facts of the matter” after Defence Minister Linda Reynolds released her own timeline of events.
But the Herald Sun understands Defence records show the ADF had a standing offer that Victorian authorities repeatedly said they did not need.
On March 27, when the National Cabinet decided to quarantine returned travellers, the Defence Force placed 100 personnel on standby in Victoria, as Mr Andrews said the ADF would be “engaged to support the implementation of these arrangements”. Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions secretary Simon Phemister told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday the meeting chaired by Mr Crisp that day was “pivotal” as officials decided to use security guards.
“We all put forward our views, deferred to the experts when it came to matters of security, when it came to matters of health protection and public health,” he said.
“We were directed through that meeting, and indeed we volunteered to run the procurement for private security after that meeting.”
On March 28, Defence records show Victoria Police made it clear it was well advanced in planning the quarantine compliance system and that it did not require ADF involvement.
Once the plan was ticked off by Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton, it was agreed there would be a further review of how the ADF could support the scheme, although Defence believed the force saw the ADF’s role as a “back-of-house” function.
Defence was then continually told that Victorian authorities had the situation under control, although on April 2, five ADF members were deployed with Victoria Police to support quarantine compliance monitoring. They were instead used in administrative roles.
Defence records show Major General Paul Kenny spoke to all police commissioners on March 31 about the ADF’s involvement in hotel quarantine, working alongside police in NSW and Queensland.
Defence was told on the same day that Mr Crisp was satisfied with the arrangements in Victoria that had been implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Major General Kenny again shared his observations on best-practice hotel quarantine monitoring with all police commissioners on April 14.
A month later, he spoke to Mr Crisp and Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton, who were confident in Victoria’s plan and indicated they were unlikely to need any further ADF support.
On June 24, Mr Crisp requested 850 ADF personnel to support compliance and monitoring at hotel quarantine.
It was swiftly approved by the federal government but Mr Crisp withdrew the request the next day, citing changing operational requirements.
The Herald Sun can reveal Defence Force chiefs will front the Senate COVID-19 inquiry next Tuesday, which is expected to shed more light on their efforts to support Victoria.
Mr Andrews said on Wednesday that he was “very, very grateful” to the ADF.
While he said he was not interested in arguing with the federal government, the Premier said Senator Reynolds’ statement — outlining how offers of support were made — was “at odds” with Mr Crisp’s comments.
The state government refused to say who else attended the crucial March 27 meeting, although ministers and their staffers were not involved.
Jobs, Precincts and Regions Co-ordination Minister Martin Pakula distanced his department from the bungled quarantine program, telling the state parliamentary inquiry that infection control was the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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